It is amazing how fast time flies.... Rewind the clock back four years ago. 2008. My son graduates from A&M Consolidated High School, in Texas. Next thing I know is that it is August, 2008 and that I've dropped him off at Notre Dame and listened to the speech admonishing parents that we do NOT want to be helicopter parents. It was time to let our baby birds fly. This link is my Active Rain post when I got back from the trip.
In September 2008, I decided to take a sabbatical from real estate and to join the Army as a way of handling empty nest syndrome. My contract started in November.
I bet many people in the real estate industry remember what happened in October 2008.
I ship out for the Army in November 2008, thinking that maybe my timing for this sabbatical was great. By August 2009, I'm sitting in Afghanistan.
Mean while, my son Sean is going to classes, learning about snow, studying, and getting involved with the sports scene at Notre Dame. Sometime between his freshman and sophmore year, the undergraduate business school jumped to number one in the rankings. Three years in a row.
Next thing I know is that I'm finally out of the Army and Sean is graduating with honors from Notre Dame.
While it sounds like he had a lot of fun, he worked very hard. He was offered a consulting job last November. Words can not adequately describe how proud of him that I am.
The news is full of negative news stories. However, after attending my son's graduation at Notre Dame, I"m even more optimistic about the future. The students at Notre Dame worked hard and continually sought excellence. As they graduated, they were told that life is not easy. However, they should always make the ethically correct choices, not matter how difficult. They should try to keep a positive outlook and to do their best. They also need to strive to remain humble.
On Friday, our family arrived and Sean gave everyone a tour of campus. This is outside his dorm, Dillon Hall.
If you haven't been to the Notre Dame campus, it is a must visit if you are in Indiana or even maybe the Chicago area.
The campus is beautiful.
In some ways, it almost felt like I was touring France again.
I think Sean was enjoying giving us the tour. Very similar to Paris, there is no way a person can thoroughly appreciate all of the art work, the architecture and the landscaping in one or two days.
The university has done a wonderful job of ensuring that new buildings blend in with the existing Gothic architecture.
The commencement mass was held in the Joyce Center - Purcell Pavilion on Saturday evening. The overflow was in the North Dome, which was still in the Joyce Center. This was by far the largest Catholic mass the I've ever attended. Actually, it was the largest church service that I've ever attended. It was a beautiful service. Different prayers were read in a variety different languages. That part impressed even the non-church goers in attendance.
After the mass, my family enjoyed looking at the different sports displays that documented Notre Dame's winning tradition in numerous sports. Here my son Phillip is enjoy the displays of trophy's from different bowl games that Notre Dame won over the years. Very very interesting. I wish we would have had more time to spend looking at these displays.
Sean was the sports manager for the rowing team his senior year.
The law students received their diplomas in the area between the football stadium and the Hesburgh Library, with it's mural of "Touch Down Jesus" looking down upon them.
When you are in the stadium looking over the field goal, you can see Touch Down Jesus.
My family was looking forward to getting to see the inside of the football stadium. We were not allowed inside until the Commencement exercise on Sunday morning. The gates opened at 7:30. The academic procession was scheduled to start at 9:00 am. My camera temporarily died, from the heat maybe, as did the cameras of two other people our party. We probably were not in the stadium 30 minutes before we decided to invest in Notre Dame visors and baseball caps.
At least it didn't rain. If it rained, only three people from our family would have been able to attend the commencement exercises. The University Commencement Ceremony lasted until 11:30 am. The speakers were excellent.
The picture (two above) with Sean and I standing in front of the rowing trophies shows what we looked like after hours of sitting in the stadium with a visor on. We were a little wrinkled but happy.
The Mendoza College of Business undergraduate commencement ceremony was held on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 inside....in the Joyce Center's North Dome. Sean finally got that diploma that he worked so hard for.
To Sean and all of the other graduates....congratulations and best wishes in your future endeavors.
I hope Sean got a chance to walk in through the front doors of the Main Building now that he has graduated. Time was short on Sunday and he had to help prepare the rowing team for the trip to the NCAA's the next day. On Sunday after all of the commencement exercises that area was packed with new alumni.
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